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In our previous post, we talked about the importance of engaging millennials at work. This time we will uncover the 5 top secrets for running a sales contest that leads to a record-breaking month for revenues. Ready to find out how to motivate your sales team?

Sales contests are a powerful tool to motivate young people both individually and as a team. Just like we pointed out in our last post, millennials are known for being the talent that’s trickiest to retain in the workplace because they are unlike any of the generations that have come before them.

So, when it comes to making these energetic and autonomous professionals compete with each other, especially in very stressful sales environments, every input counts.

At CRMGamified, we live off of the challenge of trying exciting, new ways to implement gamification that help your company’s sales reach the next level. That’s why we won’t be shy in this post when it comes to sharing our best advice stemming from our several years of experience and trial-and-error.

Ready to ignite the motivations of your sales teams, including those of your millennial hires? Here are our 5 top sales contest secrets you need to know before even thinking about implementing this gamification tactic in your department:

Remember the importance of being visual

Recognition, incentives and coaching are usually the three main things that come to mind when you think of sales contests. If you want to achieve good results in all three by using this powerful tool, you need to keep in mind the importance of being visual.

What do we mean by that?

Well, it’s proven that contests are most effective when the team is able to actually see the progress it’s making right in front of their eyes. For example, our Hurrah! Leaderboards helps to view the changing statistics in real time in a fun and innovative way, which works as a terrific incentive, both for competing and collaborating.

Technology is your main ally

Following up with the previous point, there’s hardly any other more effective way to catch the millennial’s eye than through technology. Practically born with smartphones in their hands, millennials are accustomed to engaging with multiple screens at the same time.

With an extremely easy to use and highly customizable interface, Hurrah! Leaderboards is sure to take your CRM experience to the next level by showcasing rankings and metrics, or playing music, announcements or videos to liven up the work day on tv screens and/or individual computers.

Don’t be afraid to break the mold by bringing the techie millennial spirit into play!

Set the right goals and incentives

It’s human nature to try to improve. However, in order to do so, you have to have a clear picture of what you really want to achieve. Not only is this true in life, but the same goes in sales. Therefore, it is essential for your sales team to have outlined goals as well as incentives.

And, we are not just talking about money. In fact, for the millennial generation, working is not just a mere obligation nor a social mandate. When it comes to their professional lives, millennials are looking to have a rich experience that is not only rewarding, but meaningful, challenging, and flexible.

Keep this in mind when you think of what kind of incentives you are going to put in place during the contest. Remember that a day of vacation or even a free licence to get creative during office hours are highly appreciated.

Finally, don’t forget that contests have to be implemented with a clear communication strategy. This means not only being able to set the rules and make sure they are followed, but to listen carefully to all the feedback given by the sales team during the process.

Not everything is about volume

Don’t get us wrong. Volume is important when we talk about sales and productivity in general. However, it’s a common mistake to think that every competition has to be about volume. Within your industry, it’s very likely that there are a few big players you’d love to have as clients. Getting their attention is one big goal that can be turned into a contest.

More so, you can also think of a way to encourage better customer service through special rewards and prizes.

Never forget the importance of having a way to survey your customers, either after they’ve completed a purchase, or periodically, according to your needs.

Don’t underestimate the surprise factor

Sales aside, contests are often intended to create an environment where players support and encourage one another.

However, one of the main challenges is to not pit each of your team members against each other. To keep up the healthy competition, you need to encourage every sales person to work in a collaborative way to reach certain objectives.

This balance is not always easy to achieve, and that’s where the surprise factor comes into play.

First of all, everyone needs to know and truly feel that they have an equal opportunity for success. That’s why it’s highly recommended to distribute the leads wisely and yet maintain the mystery and excitement of the game.

Even though the person who converts the most sales will win the prize, everyone should feel the motivation to participate, learn and, of course, have fun during the process. Think about, for example, implementing a system in which the winning member gets to choose their reward. There are hundreds of ways to customize rewards, taking personal tastes and personality into account.

And there you have it! With these 5 secrets for successful sales contests, you will be able to run a contest that turns your team into a lean, mean sales machine!

To learn more about how Hurrah! Leaderboards can help you exponentially improve your sales contest effectiveness, schedule a demo today!

It is well known that monitoring operations based on “Activity and Results” KPI’s is essential for any Call Center or Telemarketing team. In the end, choosing those vital metrics and monitoring them, is what makes them succeed or not.

Some time ago, this important procedure was done poorly with a delay in showing reports, sometimes waiting weeks or even months. Nowadays the cutting edge call centers can monitor their key metrics in real time, allowing faster interaction and instant feedback. This finally streamlines their operations and improves the motivation of the people involved.

A variety of leaderboards and reporting solutions are available in the market, but the ones that actually work are the ones able to show instant updates automatically. Usually they are directly connected to the original data sources: such as CRM Systems, Data Warehouses, Sales Datamarts, Phone Systems, etc.

Non-real time solutions

There are also some solutions (even with a fancy front end) that require in-between files such as Excel spreadsheets or .txt files. We call that type of technology: a “non-real time” solution.

These types of tools are usually much easier to configure and they can start operating in a matter of minutes, however there are some important disadvantages:

1) Someone is required to manually update the Excel/txt files, increasing the risk of mistakes or errors that may lead to unwanted actions… What happen if that person has a day-off at work?

2) It represents an additional non insignificant cost. Let’s suppose the person needs 15 minutes 4 times a day to upload this data. He will be wasting 1 productive hour a day in this particular task. Considering an average cost/time of $30 an hour per person….in a month the investment will be $600, which means $7.200 by year.

3) In Call Centers and Telemarketing, the operations are so intense that measuring the streamline of the business must be done more often. If we use a Monitor/Leaderboard system updated by hand, an employee would have to do this tedious task at least 8 to 10 times a day resulting in personal fatigue and discouragement.

4) Tracking live scores make people feel more excited, no instant feedback is possible using Excel files. We prefer to celebrate specific outstanding actions (or results) at the same moment they occur.For instance if someone calls 50 clients in a week or closes a $50k deal, a REAL TIME solution catches the event and shares the action with everybody at the same moment the person accomplishes the goal.There is a huge difference between having that information LIVE, than waiting 24 hours until the data can be refreshed by someone editing an Excel file. Something similar happens if someone wins 2 or 3 positions in a leaderboard or if someone climbs to the 1st position. People want to see the changes in the metrics and in the leaderboard immediately, right at the moment it happens.

Leaderboard/Reporting Solutions help companies to track KPI’s and make them visible for everybody. They also aid companies to design tournaments and contests among their people invoking an intense sense of competition and self-improvement.

But… which group of Reporting/Leaderboard solutions is less risky and cheaper? Which one represents a more powerful solution to motivate teams?

Those that, even being easier to deploy, require in-between files updated by people? Or those that take the data directly from the source showing it clearly to anyone in the office?

Alejandro Morales
CEO CRMGamified

https://crmgamified.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/mashup-mockup-sin-sony.png20002500CRMGamified Staffhttps://crmgamified.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/logo.svgCRMGamified Staff2015-12-07 12:25:452015-12-10 12:51:42Tired of updating leaderboards manually? Welcome to the new era of Real Time Leaderboards!

The Boston Celtics, the most successful NBA franchise with 17 championships – more than any other NBA club – has relied on both its historical legacy and modern technology to achieve sales growth.

The Celtics sales team knew about respecting the trust of the fan
and bonding season ticket holders with the team long-term as a
priority, but measuring sales and encouraging the sales group was another story.

Hurrah! Live in the Boston Celtics Offices

See how Hurrah! became an exciting tool to develop their own sales tournament!

Dopamine is a neurotransmitter. It is a chemical messenger originated from a nervous termination that interacts with a specific receptor to produce different physiological responses helping in the transmission of signals in the brain and other vital areas.

Dopamine is found in humans as well as animals, including both vertebrates and invertebrates.

How it works?

This neurotransmitter’s main functions are promoting mental energy, improve attention, impulse control, motivation and determination. When there is a deficient production of dopamine the results are translated in fatigue, dizziness, high desires of sugar or coffee, weight gain, attention problems, decrease of sexual desire and impulse control.
A recent study done by the MIT reveals that dopamine is also the neurotransmitter responsible of motivating us in
the most difficult moments, under a promise of “reward”. This study was made in a population of rats, scientists explain this findings are applicable in the same way with humans.

The results showed that when the rat was approaching an objective or a distant prize the dopamine production increased, this can be seen with Parkinson patients where dopamine is affected and there is not enough motivation to reach objectives or long tasks.

Games and Dopamine

Dopamine Involved in learning and feelings of reward, is released in the brain’s striatum during game activities strengthening the brain cell connections underlying memory and learning, which is why games can be put to educational and therapeutic uses.

Game strategy applications have an appeal that crosses many demographic boundaries, such as age, gender, ethnicity, or educational attainment. Besides being fun and stimulating, they can be used to help set up goals and rehearse working towards them, maintain a record of behavioral change, provide reinforcement, feedback and self-esteem.

Encouraging play, creates excitement and a more lighthearted work atmosphere that in turn stimulates employees to take more creative risks.

How Gamification is helping?

The reasons why people play are very punctual. In a survey made by the CRMGamified team to relatives and coworkers, the answers where centered in these specific reasons:

Socializing: Relationships between players are stronger because entertainment can foster trust, empathy and compassion. It is a perfect way of making new friends and breaking the ice in any situation of shyness.

Stress relief: Play releases endorphins, the body’s natural feel-good chemicals. Endorphins promote the sense of well-being and can even relieve pain.

Revitalizing: As the famous Irish Nobel Prize winner George Bernard Shaw said, “We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

Brain challenges: Playing brain skilled games help prevent Alzheimer and improve brain functionality. Playing games with relatives, co-workers or friends help ward off depression and stress.

Creativity: The best way of learning something as children or adults is by playing. A fun task turns into an easy task immediately, stimulating imagination, and improving problem resolution.

Sports and Dopamine

Athletes are likely to have one thing in common: Higher levels of dopamine. The habit of regular workouts, push them to perform way better than in their last workout. Better known as the brain’s “reward center”, dopamine is essential for concentration, quick reaction time, focus, and what’s most important, good moods.

Food and Dopamine

A balanced diet is a very important step to improve dopamine production, the neurotransmitters are produced from amino acids and these require vitamins and minerals, so the diet must be rich in proteins such as those found in meat, fish, vegetables, beans, eggs and soy.

Work and Dopamine

To determine the consequences of stress during work we should understand the difference between positive stress and negative stress. In both cases there is an emotional condition that models working attitude and effectivity.

Positive stress enhances productivity and performance, while negative stress does completely the opposite. Knowing dopamine is produced in very high levels when a sensation of reward and recognition is present we should be aware that a negative stress will trigger the results we want to avoid.

So how can we turn negative stress into positive stress?

After all the necessary research needed to develop a successful solution, CRMGamified combined two motivation methods proven to work together or separate depending on the needs of the company.

CRM Gamified Motivation Engine Brings the excitement of a sales contest accomplishing goals and having immediate rewards through a simple game platform full of points, levels, badges, challenges under a friendly and precise colorful architecture linked to MS Dynamics CRM.

Hurrah! Shows the information registered in MS Dynamics CRM that can also be measured by CRM Gamified Motivation Engine, in a live slideshow exhibited in TV screens around the office with a rewarding experience of customizable videos, sounds, music, pictures and events recognizing the achievements of teams or individuals.

This technique links work responsibilities with an entertaining game/competition experience, activating an increased production of dopamine thus a positive physical response, showing non-detectable results of work overwhelming or burnout.

S.M.

https://crmgamified.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/d1-e1439826657788.jpg305316CRMGamified Staffhttps://crmgamified.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/logo.svgCRMGamified Staff2015-08-18 12:09:522016-03-09 16:52:15Dopamine: How Gamification helps its production making us healthier?

It’s already July! Microsoft’s WPC 2015 in Orlando is just around the corner, and we didn’t want to miss the opportunity to let you know we’ll be there slide!

Don’t miss this great event, peers and partners from all around the world; it offers great sessions, experiences of other partners, and more, learning while having fun! And if you are interested in learning how to increase user adoption by applying gamification tactics in your Microsoft Dynamics CRM with our Motivation Engine or Hurrah! it’s the perfect chance!

When faced with the decision to buy a modern leaderboard or problems like CRM adoption and engagement, you may wonder, why others have chosen Hurrah! Leaderboard for their organization? Here are the top 9 reasons to choose Hurrah! for your company:

Increase Public Recognition

This is a great way to motivate employees, a fundamental strategy to increase individual and organizational success.

Achieve Company Goals

Employees get a full picture of the company goals and how their actions are going to help achieve those goals, when they see the data displayed on Hurrah!, allowing them to feel the value they bring, increasing engagement and aligning personal goals with the company’s.

Increase CRM Adoption

People are going to want to see their faces up in that screen, to do this, they’ll need to enter information in CRM.

A year has gone by already! It feels like only yesterday we were working on our first Sprint for Hurrah!. We knew it was going to be an awesome year, but it was much more than we expected!

From the beginning we had great opportunities, starting with the Miami Dolphins! We’ve told you before how they were able to accelerate sales with Hurrah!. They were able to achieve higher ticket sales than ever using Hurrah! Leaderboard with their CRM.

More and more sports companies began checking out Hurrah! and found a solution that surpassed their expectations. Great organizations like the Charlotte Hornets, Minnesota Timberwolves, San Diego Padres and more! But Hurrah! is not only popular with the Sports Industry. It’s a global solution used to motivate users, recognize performance and drive more sales. Insurance companies and recruitment companies have discovered Hurrah! and love it. And we couldn’t be happier!

It’s been a wild ride here at CRMGamified, working hard to make Hurrah! better and better, adding new features, and evolving the solution! We want to thank everyone who trusted us, all our customers –our primary source of inspiration and improvement– partners and the Hurrah! team! We’re just getting started!

The CRMUG Summit was held a few days ago in St. Louis and what a memorable experience it was for the CRMGamified team!

Apart from the rich experience of taking part in such a premier networking event and the opportunity to share knowledge with hundreds of Microsoft Dynamics® CRM users, we once again experienced, what we call, Hurrah! moments.

Our gamification solutions caught several hundred visitors’ attention, all of whom stopped by our booth to either watch a demo of the product and/or learn more about our value proposition.

I know, we’ve said it a million times…..gamification is not just a passing trend. So, believe me when I say that Broadcasting KPIs from CRM isn’t one either!

Performance leaderboards are here to stay!

Thanks to all for stopping by our booth!

Wait….. Did you miss it? You can still see it for yourself by requesting a demo of Hurrah! and our Motivation Engine!

Leaderboards are one of the most popular game design elements that gamification designers have in their toolset. Ranking players by their achievements is something that we are all familiar with, as it has been used in most sports to showcase the winners and losers. But leaderboards are not just isolated. They build on other game design elements, such as points or medals to be functioning.

While leaderboards (and points) are extrinsic motivators that come from outside an individual, they need to be connected to intrinsic motivators. Intrinsic motivators including epic meaning, learning, or relationships benefit from the quantitative aspect of leaderboards. Short-term extrinsic combined with the long-term effect of intrinsic motivators make a gamification design strong and engaging.

When choosing a leaderboard as a design element, a gamification practitioner needs to make sure that it plays its part for the long-term goal. Leaderboards alone tend to encourage competition, which may be counter to the goal of collaboration in an organization. After all, that’s why we create companies, because together we can accomplish more than as individuals. For short-term and occasional initiatives a leaderboard may be perfectly fine. It may give the necessary energy boost to an organization and de-emphasizing the competitive aspect can help improve metrics. Use it to drive sales, but only do so occasional. Excessive use may lead to unethical behaviors, as the ranking may dominate over the real benefits that a customer may get.

Leaderboard designs changed over the years. Arcade games displayed the top players, which – if you were not a top player – was pretty demotivating. You would never be amongst the top 10 and thus your name never appear in the list. This changed and newer designs do not rank players against everyone in an organization or network, but only show your rank amongst friends and team members. In fact, your own rank is in the center, and those of the players that are before and behind you. Seeing a difference of 3 points to your next competitor is more actionable than seeing the large difference of 100 points to the first ranked player.

But the evolution of leaderboards doesn’t stop here. More and more designs include multiple parameters. Think of the medal ranking at the Olympic Games. Gold, Silver, and Bronze are listed and influence the ranking. Or sports leagues display games won, tied, and lost. Or even scored goals and other factors.

Companies have taken cues from those areas and leaderboards today don’t look much anymore than in the Arcade game days. First, the leaderboards may not even compare players to others, but to their own past performance. This way both a new hire and an experienced employee can get value out of a leaderboard. It displays how they did and can improve. And not just for one factor. Nowadays multiple parameters are included, showing the strengths and weaknesses that the employee has to work on. Such leaderboard designs may come in circular shapes displaying historical data and the progress in the skills.

Think of parameters such as deals closed vs. leads, deal amounts, negotiation skills, travel expenses etc. displayed and your improvement over several periods. Seeing progress there motivates and players would be more willing to share their tricks with others. In the end everyone profits: the players and the company.

Leaderboards are certainly one of the most powerful elements in the arsenal of a gamification designer, and the evolution of it combined with other design elements will make for powerful gamification designs.

About Us

Founded in 2011, and having presence in the US, Canada and Latin America, CRMGamified® provides modern technology to help companies improve sales and service performance by leveraging gamification.

We offer a metrics-driven approach and CRM add-ons to promote behaviors that lead to substantial revenue growth, increased employee engagement, and improved productivity of outbound teams across the globe.